Alike Ejiofor and Chiemelie Ezeobi with agency report
Notwithstanding the frequent arrests of pipeline vandals, oil thieves and seizures of petroleum products, the illicit trade has continued to boom, not only in the Niger Delta, but also in several other parts of the country. But the unwavering determination of the operatives of the Special Task Force on Anti-pipeline Vandalism, instituted by the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Abubakar, to check the menace yesterday led to the arrest of five suspected pipeline vandals in Lagos.
The suspects identified as Eugene Stanley, Kunle Ogushe, Oluwafemi Bamidele, Komuko Ayekede and James Awolowo, were arrested at 7th Avenue, FESTAC Town, one of the notorious spots for pipeline vandalism in the state.
The suspects confessed that they sell the products to buyers, especially customers at the Apapa area of the state for as much as N6,000 per barrel of 125 litres.
The police were said to have sighted the suspects after they had successfully vandalised and stolen 270 jerry cans of 120 litres of petrol from one of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines at Oke Agemo, Ijedodo area near Ijegun in Iba Local Government Council Development Area (LCDA).
As they were wont to do after each operation, the suspects were sailing across the canal behind 7th Avenue in FESTAC Town when they were surrounded and arrested and the stolen products recovered from them.
The Officer-in-Charge of the task force, Friday Ibadin, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), said the operatives laid ambush for the suspects based on intelligence report.
Following the tip off, Ibadin said the Lagos Sector Commander of the task force, Onaghise Osayande, sealed off the exit points and waited for the unsuspecting vandals to run into the blockade, which they did.
Lamenting the huge loss being experienced by the federal government as a result of the continuous and irresponsible act of vandalism, the ACP urged perpetrators to desist from their nefarious acts, adding that the task force will ensure that deviants are duly punished within the provisions of the law.
The mastermind, 52-year-old Ayekede, however debunked claims that he vandalised pipelines. According to him, he had seen some kegs of petrol floating on the water while tapping palm wine and he went to collect the floating kegs.
Although he admitted that he knew petrol was left by the vandals, he said his crime was that he connived with others to steal the products after he discovered it.
However, his claims were faulted by Stanley who admitted that they have been in the business for over two years, adding that he was persuaded to leave his former job as a sand dredger because of the monetary rewards of pipeline vandalism.
Meanwhile, the continuous stealing of refined products has caused the shutting down of several exploration fields across the country, which has affected the nation’s economy. Italian oil giant, Eni, which operates in Nigeria as Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), yesterday restated that it shut down its activities in the swampy oil fields of Bayelsa State due to crude oil theft.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the company as saying in a statement issued in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, that the frequent spills in the area were caused by oil vandals.
The company also added that it had decided to shut down operations to prevent further damage to the environment.
Italy-based Eni said it authorised the suspension of operations on March 22 and subsequently declared force majeure on its oil output from the facility on March 23.
Force majeure is a legal notice that absolves an oil firm of liabilities for failure to meet supply obligations to crude buyers due to circumstances beyond the firm’s control.
“Eni confirms that during the night between 21 and 22 March, the company has declared force majeure and ordered the closure of its onshore activities in the Swamp Area, located in Bayelsa State in Nigeria. Sustainability is for Eni a priority in Nigeria, as in all the countries in which it operates,” the statement said.
“The decision was taken due to an intensification of bunkering activities, or sabotage of the pipelines,” the company said in the statement.
Eni said it produced about 40,000 barrels of crude oil equivalent daily from the shut facilities.
The company however expressed regrets that about 7,000 barrels of its daily crude production were lost to oil thieves in Bayelsa, a development the firm described as unsustainable.
The company said the theft of oil from the pipelines “had reached levels that were no longer sustainable recently both from the point of view of safety for people and for the damage caused to the environment by these activities.”
The Italian oil major was producing between 35,000 and 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day at the site and the theft and losses due to sabotage had reached up to 60 per cent of production.
Eni’s declaration is coming about a month after Shell threatened to shut down its facilities in Nembe area of Bayelsa over increased oil theft from its pipeline. Shell said it was losing about 60,000 barrels of crude daily to oil thieves.
The Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, however, said its activities had reduced crude theft in the Delta.
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